>> the last word of the week, chris hayes in your lawrence o'donnell. you can follow me on twitter, chrislhayes. rachel maddow is up next. >> any big plans? >> may light off a firework fmplgts they're illegal where you live, i won't tell anyone. >> just between you and me. >> exactly right. thanks for staying with us the next hour. it is the start of a long fourth of july weekend. one of those days where if you are not on vacation already, you sort of feel like a sucker, because it feels like everybody else is on vacation. but even on a sultry friday night in july, heading into a long holiday weekends, there are two outstanding things that happened in american politics today. there is no relationship to what another whatsoever. i won't stremp and try to make one. we're going to do one of these stories and then the other. the first one is this --

>> conservatism is an act of creation and love. a love for a cherished way of life we have inherited and will bequeath to our children. conservatism is the ligation of ideology. we sent our mind to the world. not of the world to our mind. we'll move every mountain. we will meet every challenge and we will strive towards the light for the blossoming down that is our newest birth of freedom, because we know our future is bright, because the future is you. thank you for having me. >> that man is running for president. officially as of today. he annoyanced it on a friday in july right before a long holiday weekend. and you know what? maybe thaddeus mccotter will be the next sleeper conservative sensation. maybe he will be the next herman cain. the crowd watching him at that

cpac conference last year, it should be noted, loved that speech that he gave. also true, however, that in the local news coverage of thaddeus mccotter's home town, even the local news reporters in his home state seemed to think that it was probably nobody would know who he was. >> not even necessarily a household name near michigan. a five-term congressman from the 11th district including la bonia where he lives. he's 45, married with three children, graduated from mercy for undergrad and law school and catholic central high school. >> welcome to the presidential race, congressman thaddeus mccotter. i could already tell from everything i know about you that you are going to be a very fun edition. exciting. on the kind of day when nobody really expects any news at all, thaddeus mccotter joins the republican presidential race. one of two major and unexpected political developments today. the other major and unexpected

political definivelopment today minnesota is closed now. the democratic governor and the republican legislature of minnesota could not come to agreement on a budget. at midnight local time last night minnesota closed down. you do not have to go home, but you can't stay here. 23,000 people who worked for the state have been laid off, out of a job indefinitely. 23,000 people. if you had a reservation at a campground for the fourth of july weekend, you are not camping. all state parks will be shut. all rest stops shut. the zoos are even shut, although it is considered an essential task to keep feeding the animals, somebody will still do that even though there will be no visitors. special services for blind and deaf people in minnesota have stopped. 950,000 pounds of food for the needy in minnesota are sitting on the shelves and in freezer, right now. that food cannot be delivered. the state has had to stop child care assistance for the poor. the state's prison. you can shut a prison while there are prisoners inside it.

if you have a friend or family member inside prison you will not abe lewed to visit them. no more religious services in prison. no educational programs of any kind, no more alcoholic anonymous or narcotic anonymous. in prison as of now you cannot go to the library, do legal research. the assistant commissioner for the state prison system says they started meeting with prisoner representatives yesterday to let them know these changes are coming. we don't believe in surprising these guys, quote/unquote. lest their surprising be not good to us. idle hands or the devil's workshop in prison. minnesota is shut down and even though this is being headlined as a budget standoff, like when the federal government almost got shut down back in april, remember how republicans were holding out to the very end for defunding planned parenthood? what they were willing to shut down the government over and democrats wanted to make sure

everybody knew it? in minnesota the last round of demands from the republican was to ban abortion at 20 weeks. to ban stem cell research at the university of minnesota in the mayo clinic. strip union rights statewide and make it harder to vote. those were among the final demands from legislative republicans in this supposedly fiscal standoff. if making it larldser to vote is still on your list of demands getting fleer to the end, if you're still insisting on that, it may be you are not working hard to avoid that government shutdown. and that's where this minnesota story gets more interesting and more national, actually. because there are two well-known minnesota republican politicians run fog president right now. both have responded to this government shutdown in min money by saying -- all right. whew-hoo, yeah. michele bachmann putting out a statement praising minnesota republicans for standing firm and not coming to an agreement with the governor. tim pawlenty making sure he was in minnesota as the government was shutting down so she could

cheer for the shutdown. >> i think the republicans are doing the right thing. >> the government also had a shutdown when tim pawlenty was governor of the state in 2005. last night mr. pawlenty said he wished that his shutdown had gone on longer than it did. >> i think nine days at that time and i think we would have gotten a better deal had we allowed that to continue for a while. >> his only regret that it wasn't longer. this may be sort of a teaching moment for republican politics now. the republicans in minnesota do not seem to have tried very hard 20 overt this shutdown. started threatening there might about shutdown even of the legislative session was going on weeksation. throwing in new demands to the end. if you are trying to come to a last-minute agreement, your list of demands should be getting smaller, not bigger, right? the real question, whether there is reason to believe the republicans believe something like a government shutdown is a bad political outcome. they do seem positive on the idea this year.

their crowds applaud whenever they say it. >> and i've got to tell you. most people in my district say shut it down. >> the american people could see, life would go on without the federal government for a little while. >> i don't think it would hurt one bit. >> show how seriously they are. okay? government's going to have to shut down. >> if they wouldn't be at bad as people make it out? >> no, i don't think it would be. >> do you think a shutdown should be off the table? >> everything all to be on the table. >> we will do what we have to do to shut down the government if we have to. >> in the senate, would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform. i say, shut it down. >> cut it or shut it, cut it or

shut it. shut it down. they cheered when he gets to the shut it idea. and waits for the clears. that's the aplauz plauz line in the speech. they like that idea. not something you should try hard to avoid. they're kind of psych for it. back in april the government came close can to a full federal shutdown. next the debt ceiling. democrats and republicans are negotiating over this in washington. the premise behind negotiations is that both sides want to avoid the catastrophe of hitting that debt ceiling in defaulting on american debt. >> nobody, democrat or republican, is willing to see the full faith and credit of the united states government collapse. >> are we absolutely sure of that? nobody's willing to do that. are we sure? [ chanting ] >> cut it or shut -- if one side

really doesn't want to avoid defaulting on the debt if republican enthusiasm at the state and federal level also mean enthusiasm for, hey, hit that debt ceiling. see what happens. is there any rational reason for democrats to continue negotiations and if they do, how? how do you negotiate to avoid a crisis with somebody kind of as i could about the prospect of the crisis? so although i sort of can't believe i am saying this, we are at the point democrats in washington appear to be seriously considering whether the president can just ignore congress to ignore the republicans and instead assert he can raise the debt ceiling on his own? can he do that? what does it mean about it that we are considering that he might try? joining us now is dan rather, former anchor of the "cbs evenings news a"and current host of "dan rather reports" on hd net. always a pleasure. >> thank you for having me, rachel. >> i would like to talk about the republican negotiating position in a moment, but what

about this idea that the debt ceiling could be handled without congress? lots of presidents have had debt ceiling fights with congress before. has any president ever tried to handle it on his own? >> andrew jackson back in the 19th century in effect did it, but what we're talking about now is the potential of a constitutional crisis, because article 4 of the 14th amendment to the constitution clearly says in effect, we will pay our debts. we, the people of the united states, will pay our debts, period. it doesn't mention, doesn't mention the president or executive branch, but that's what it says. so the constitutional scholars, i can't say they're split evenly on this subject, that several people in the internet, one in particular, has said, what it amounts to for the president, if push comes to shove, finally gets down to it, this is a fire ax on the wall for him. it's not my praise, i'm sorry to say. as a last resort, he could say,

article 4 of the 14th amendment of the constitution says we will pay our debts. you people say we're not going to pay our debts. i'm taking it from here. in theory, he can do that, but as a practical matter looking forward, with any president, particularly this one facing re-election possibility next year, wants to point the country into a constitutional crisis, he would argue that it was the other side and that's where the people would have to decide. was it the republicans pushing to the brink and forcing the president to do this or was the president overstepping and taking powers to him? it is most different in civics class in seventh grade, congress controls the purse strings. there it is. my bottom line as an opinion and you know rachel better than most how often i'm wrong about these things, is i don't think this is going to go very far. at some future time as constitutional scholars go through their machinations, even

chuck schumer, democratic leader in the senate, is saying, this needs more exploration. where does that leave us? it leaves us sort of plummeting towards this, crashing towards this deadline. the republicans, you said before, the republicans are split. some republicans, tea party member, not exclusive to them, are ready to shut it down, saying we think that would be a good thing for the country and by the way, might be a good thing for us politically. another part of the republican party is saying, that's too strong, and remember, we tried this shutting down the government in the 1990s, and it helped build clinton immeasurably. republicans are split, whereas democrats are saying as follows -- we don't want the government to shut down, and if it shuts down we are definitely going to blame the republicans for doing that, and, by the way, that might not hurt is politically. but the shift in power at the moment is, the republicans, part of the republicans want to argue, maybe the majority of

republicans in washington are saying, not a bad idea to shut it down. some are saying, shut it down. the less government the better. others are counseling moderation. democrats fairly united. if they're going to shut it down, make it clear the republicans had shut it down. i can't afford saying and i realize i talked some time here, all of this says to me and i think it says to a lot of people in the country just how far out of touch washington as a whole, republicans democrats, tea party, mug watmps, so far out o touch. they don't have jobs and they're talking about shutting down the government? >> it strikes me the one bit of flexibility policymakers have in terms ever monetary policy and fiscal policy. the one bit of flexibility left even with all of the political things we have, money is very cleep to borrow right now. that's sort of a one saving bit of flexibility in the economy right now in terms of trying to

prevent a double dip recession, trying to bing things back. if we do actually before people felt down deep, they're argue. shut down half a day or something. we, the people of the united states, we're going to pay our debts. that's what this is about. are we going to pay our debts or not, and on what timeline? i don't have to remind you, a presidential election is coming up next year. one of the things that could happen and i'm looking frankly -- i wouldn't say

probable, but going in that direction, is at this, if this fight gets postponed after the election. if they extend the debt ceiling for a limited period of time. say a year, a year and a half, that would be one way to do it. however it comes back to, if the majority of the republicans in washington take the view that they would rather crunch american credit, our fur faith in credit, rather than increase taxes, if they hold to that line, then you could very well see it shut down and at that moment somebody around the president might say, invoke article 4 of the 14th amendment of the constitution. after all it is part the constitution. some people toned think amendments, the first 10 are not really part of the constitution, but this article 4 has as much power as anything else in the constitution as a last i use the metaphor against, fire ax to get out of it. the president could do it. i sincerely doubt he will do it n. an emergency break glass. dan rather i so enjoy your

insights and able to talk to you about this. thank you for coming in. >> thank you for having me. happy fourth. >> thank you. dan rather is, most recent special, called "all is not forgiven" about how the archdiocese of los angeles screens its new priests after the catholic church's sex abuse scandal. that special airs tomorrow at noon on hd net and also available on itunes and i suggests you check it out. i should also warn you, there is more thaddeus mccotter in the show tonight. i cannot stop myself. i realize i'm the only person in the country coving, but i can't stop. also the best new thing in the world we've ploen flown in from. and from "the washington post," new ideas ar shoes that show all your five toes. all coming up. night's sleep every night. why not talk to someone who's sleeping on the most highly recommended bed in america.™ it's not a sealy or a simmons or a serta.

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♪ today this man declared that he is running for president. do you think he has a chance of winning? his name, in case you do not know is thaddeus mccotter. she from the house of representatives representing michigan. and he has a book out, which may tell you more about why he decided to run for president than any rational calculation about securing the republican nomination. is there anybody in the republican party that has a real chance of securing the presidential nomination other than mitt romney?

people are betting on this stuff, the candidates closest to mitt romney, perry, who hasn't declared he's running and michele bachmann who is amazing. nobody else makes it out of single digits. not even thaddeus mccotter. in the press and seemingly in the polls, bachmann is in the polls. and in march governor romney told his fund-raising team he wanted to raise $50 million fast by the end of the second quarter. the first financial filing deadline. that's an astonishing amount to have planned to make. a shock and awe fund-raising plan to raise so much so early that it would drive anybody squeamish, they said, out of the race. it would create the impression for donors and for king makers and anybody else that whether or not you like mitt romney, he was inevitable. the roomny train is leaving the station. you better get onboard. now, how did that go for hillary clinton last time around? this is not a foolproof strategy

but it has been mitt romney's strategy. in may, the not yet declared romney campaign claimed it raised more than $10 million on a single day. in one day. a kind of claim that earns mr. romney rapturing coverage in the political press. romney displays, raising $10 million in one day of phone calls. makes a fund-raising splash. lays down the gauntlet to republican contenders, shock and awe. until yesterday when the los angeles times reportsed that mitt romney didn't so much raise $10 million in one day back then as he did some light bookkeeping using that day to add up all of the pledges he had taken in earlier and announcing that instead. if you are building confidence in your candidacy based on how much money you can attract as a candidate, if you actually don't attract as much as you said you were going to, what happens to your campaign? in march mitt romney told those assembled rich guy supporters and fund-raisers he wanted them to help him raise $50 million by

right now, by today. instead mitt romney is saying he raised less thanes 20ds million. which is still ahead of any other republican candidate, but a lot less, less than half, of the $50 million he set as his goal. the real question apparently is whether the fund-raising bust for the republican presidential candidates, all of them including their front-runner, whether this bust is just bad news about enthusiasm for these candidates, or whether what's going on here is that money is just carving a new path down the mountain this year. five successes supreme court decision biced conservative majority in the roberts court basically have taken apart campaign finance law over the last couple of years. what stephen colbert has been applying his comedic genius to in the last few moss, okaying mr. colbert's only super pac. >> now the real work begins and i am reminded as we stand here as the pilgrims who on this very

spot but in massachusetts filed their papers on plymouth pac to be free of the tyranny of king george who refused to allow even a corporate carving to be spent on u.s. presidential elections. of course, they'll others who say stephen colbert what will you do with that unrestricted super pac money? to which i say, i don't know. give it to me and let's find out. >> so why aren't the republican candidates raking it in so far this year? nate silver at the "new york times" today said even without all the numbers in yet it looks like all the republican candidates together as a group are raising about half of what they raised this time in the last election cycle. mitt romney's raised less than half of what he said he's raise by now. think about what's different now from the last time around. if you're a rich guy and you want to influence elections, why wouldn't you take the stephen

colbert route? if you're a rich guy, a rich corporation or even a rich foreign government that wants to influence the american presidential election, why bother doing it the old-fashioned way? a candidate's campaign you have to give your name and your donation is limited. why not give unlimited money that you don't freed 20 put your money out to an outside group that can spend infinitely with none traceable to you? why not put the money down that part of the in this year? why not starve the candidate, instead spend all the donations on outside groups? joining us now, a "washington post" columnist as brookings institution. e.j., good to see you. >> good to be here. i think all the money's going to thaddeus mccotter. wait until july 15th, from his appearances on this show. >> thaddeus mccotter, i feel like, is a special favor to me from god. i must have done something good in a past life. some ancestor of mine did. he's rinning for president. weird videos, with the guitar,

showing weird nylon socks. >> where did he ge the guitar? >> talks about profit tags. is it possible outside groups are a more attractive spot instead of the candidates? is that possible? >> it sure looks that way. what you're seeing among republicans, a lot more enthusiasm for the proposition let's beat barack obama than for the propositions let's elect one ever these other people. as republicans know they want to win the election but they're not really satisfied with any of these candidates, and i think one indication of that is that every time a new name goes out there, whether serious or not, donald trump, unserious, rick perry, hard to take seriously, but maybe serious. they suddenly zoom up in the polls. there seems to be somebody, republican opinion that just wants to go somewhere else. i think the money may reflect some of that, that romney

obviously is the guy who's best positioned to raise the money, and he's still getting probably more attention than anyone else along with michele bachmann. but there's still mistrust to him and people wonder, can we win this election against obama? so the money goes to rogue groups where they know it will do good, buy a lot of negative ads against obama in important states. >> with all of these supreme court decisions striking down all the different campaign finance rules in broad strokes what it means, more of the money will be anonymous and just more of it, because there's no limits on donations and not limits on expenditures. what do you think that is going to do materially to the way that we elect the next president? >> it ain't going to be good. i mean, i think this is very, very alarming. i think citizens united, i mean, there are a lot of candidates for the worst supreme court decision in history, i'm not a fan of bush v. gore, but this

was a terrible decision. it said, corporations can spend money directly. we have been against that as a country all the way back to 1907. teddy roosevelt, the republican, warned against the danger of corporate money in politics. but at least most of the time we knew where the money came from. so you had some sense of who was influencing someone. with what's going on now, you don't even know who owns somebody, if somebody is owned. and, also, the kind of -- i worry about the threats against -- a good member of congress takes on an interest group, and somebody walks in there and says, you like this job. wouldn't it be nice if there were a lot of negative ads anun mousily funded by us in your next campaign. would it? it creates a whole slew of problems. a very impractical decision as well as the decision on the side of the very rich and powerful. >> one other issue of financing came up in way i did not expect. jon huntsman said in may he

would not self-finance his presidential campaign even though he's rich enough to do that, at least in large part. today he didn't have to file any campaign fund-raising information, because he hasn't been declared for very long, but did say he raised about $4 million and his campaign would just say that he did contribute to his own coffering here. all they'll say, it wasn't a majority. only that what he gave is less than half. jon huntsman is, at least, sort of self-financing here and declaring it, and letting it be known. is that worrying in terms of his chances as a real candidate or encouraging because he has his own money to spend if he wants to? >> first of all, i don't understand the original statement. don't make a statement that you know can be disproved when the sec reports come out. and in terms of his fund-raising, i'm inclined to say, wait until the next cycle. i mean, jon huntsman has only been around for a little bit. i think his opening is that

republicans who are not bachmann republicans decide that in the end he might have a better chance of meeting bachmann and meeting the election than romney. so some people start coming to him. but i do think it's disconcerting when someone says one thing and then ends up doing another. i'm curious why he denied he was glog to self-finance in the first place since he's clearly got the money. >> senior fellow at the brookings institution. when it is cain mccotter 2012, feithly settled on that as the inevitable ticket, can you and i go on the campaign trail together and follow them around? >> i would love that. we could sing with them. happy fourth to you. >> appreciate it. thank you, e.j. >> do not pay attention or criticize what people wear. something about glass houses and all that sense i dress like a color blind kindergartner, but you have seen this weird footy shoes? the ones that show your toes? creepy in a reserve nugsary way.

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it's been a very big 24 hours in the courts against three different breeds of anti-abortion extremists. first in north carolina a jury found a nationally known anti-abortion ex-treatmentist

leader guilty of krill neale stalking a charlotte area doctor who does abortions. a story we've covered for several months on the show including interviewing one of the doctors targeted in north carolina. there's a long history of doctors murdered of course, after the anti-abortion movement distributed wanted posters of them. today's rule against the director of a group called operation rescue operation save america who targeted these north carolina doctors, the ruling bans him from getting anywhere near where the one doctor named in the lawsuit lives or works. bans him from contacting the doctor or his family or from publishing anymore wanted posters or anything else about the doctor online or in print. the defendant says he will appeal, but the order protecting the doctor stays in place while the appeal is being considered. also, today in topeka, kansas, a federal judge blocked sam brownback from instituting new regulations that nearly shut down every abortion provider in the state of kansas as of today. there are only three facilities

providing abortion left in kansas since dr. george tiller was murdered there by an anti-abortion extremists two years ago. as we have reported on this show, the few remaining doctors providing abortions in the state of kansas say that sam brownback's new law was designed to put them all out of business as well. like the republican mitch daniels indiana law going after planned parenthood clinics, sam brownback's law to close the clinics, too, has now been stopped by a federal court, and for good measure, also in the last 24 hours a control court has stopped the law in south dakota. a law that would force women seeking an abortion in that state to wait three days and to sit through lecture by an anti-abortion activist at a so-called pregnancy health center before the state would allow them to have an abortion. the last came in with withering scorn from the judge. forcing a woman to divulge at a stranger the fact she's chosen to undergo an abortion humiliate and degrades her as a human

being. the woman, it would suggest she's mate the wrong decision, has not thought about her decision to undergo and abortion or is not intelligent enough to make the decision even with the advice of a physician. so the south dakota law on ice. thanks to a federal judge. the kansas law also on ice thanks to a federal judge. the north carolina wanted posters creep, again, on ice, thanks to a jury of his peers. it has been a big 24 hours in abortion rights. ♪ [ female announcer ] something unexpected to the world of multigrain... taste. ♪ delicious pringles multigrain.

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first lady michelle obama's "let's move" campaign spreadsed gospel of healthy eating, exercise and if necessary, doing the dougie. on her recent trip to south africa, the first lady and desmond tutu got down on the ground and did push-ups. so delighted he did this dance when he was done, which made me very happy. and president obama keeps in good shape back at the white house. although skinny, not scary skinny. fit like president bush. president obama works out regularly. not afraid to be seen praying

sports. i also don't think i'm telling tales out of school say wlg i have seen president obama eat, which i have done, a highly disciplined people even when the food is delicious and right there on the plate he avoids the stuff that's bad for you and eats just the stuff that's good for you. meanwhile, i'm shoving dessert in my face with both hands. being highly disciplined. right? i think it's just part of deal wig the rigors of the job of being president. we all know how the president ages a person. a hard enough job. the president having a pretty austere diet is probably considered a very prudent thing to do. you know what? also kind of a bummer, having to be that good all the time. and if it is a bummer that i think it must be, the great news for president obama right now is that while he still is president, he also has a go back to being candidate obama now, too. when you are campaigning, out on the road, pressing the flesh and meting the people and dropping into the diners and hitting the

small towns, frankly, there is no austere president's diet. no hold the sauce can i get that grilled, not fried. as the campaign gets going again, as it did this week with the president making stops in iowa we got a very, very, very specific, very clear, very wonderful piece of evidence that the life of the president of the united states is already starting to get way more delicious than it usually is. direct evidence of that here in the studio is the best new thing in the world today coming up at the end of the show. it's already made the studio smell good. i'm very excited. ♪ ooh baby, looks like you need a little help there ♪

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the debuyction function, what's my question, true or false. >> continue to say the economy is worse but unemployment is worse than it was in 2009, the stock market is tumbling, now above 12,000 and now going forward. just had a -- last quarter, how can you continue to say things are worse? >> i didn't say things were worse. what i said was that the economy hasn't turned around iblgts didn't say the economy's worse. under president obama. not me, never said that. is that true or false? mr. romney, please, meet the

video record. the video record, please meet mr. romney. >> he did not cause this recession, but he made it worse. >> he didn't create the recession, but he made it worse, and longer. >> when he took office, the economy was in recession. and he made it worse. >> so just to be clear here. just to be clear. >> he made it worse. >> he made it worse. >> he made it worse. >> i didn't say that thing, worse. >> yes, you did, mitt romney wshgs yes, you did. not telling the truth about what you said. also not telling the truth on the substance. the economy under president obama has gotten bet are, factually speaking. mitt romney, false, and also mitt romney false about being false. true or false. the u.s. army outlawed five-toed shoes for all soldiers. these beauties. designed to increase your athletic performance, improve posture, add an octave to your singing range or bring back the latin you forgot from college or seriously make your toes fee

better. seems weird to me. don't toes get lonesome like dogs when they're separated? army banned five toed shoes? true or false? true. some confusion in this community. some feeling it might have been a hoax or internet rumor. 9 five-toed shoes reporting in february the army had already banned them. birthday shoes get the scoop from an anonymous tipster, we cann cannot -- it may about hoax. kniss week we learned in fact that the army in fact banned the five-toed community by banning those. effective immediately only those shoes that accommodate all five toes in one compartment are authorized for wear. those shoes that feature five separate, individual compartments for the toes,

detract from a professional military image and are prohibited for wear. those shoes detract from a professional military image. more than the compartments for the toance more than there is a five-toed community, they banned the shoes for no operational reason at all. the army's stated rationale why you cannot wear these in uncle sam's army is that they are freaking hideous. that's the reason. thank you for playing. [ male announcer ] a moment that starts off ordinary

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iowa and met a very nice woman in the audience. >> i'm a small business owner. >> what's your restaurant? >> magic mount. >> we've been? "sports illustrated." >> cynthia went on to describe what a magic mountain is and intrigued candidate obama. then she got why she was there, to convince her republican husband back at the restaurant to vote democratic this time around. >> i know it's the lunch hour. i'm going to give your wife all the answers to my questions.

if we need to talk, we can try later. >> nearly three years later, this past tuesday president obama was back in the neighborhood and he surprised cynthia popping in. >> cynthia came to one of my town halls in iowa and told me about magic mountains and volcanos. >> magic mountains are texas coast grilled, loose steamed hamburger meat on top of that, a homemade cheddar cheese sauce, ice on it, chopped onions on the top. we add our spicy chili on top, it's called a volcano. >> so anybody -- anybody who wants one, i will buy it for

you. anybody in press corps has to eat the whole thing. >> that was tuesday. when we heard about this, we collectivelied a one thought. yes, please. we would like one. we decided to make some here in new york. we called ross' restaurant to find out how to make an authentic magic mountain and volcano. she said we would be happy to make you one and here they are. yeah! cynthia and melissa, thank you for coming this way. did i get the story right? >> exactly. >> i have to -- i don't mean to be too politics-oriented, but do you know who your husband voted? >> the next day i said we had been so busy and i said what

happened? he said, honey, i told him when i get this that ballot vote i looked pleased. my husband is so shy and quiet. >> i want to talk food, but in iowa, and you guys are a landmark restaurant, i now that the campaign started, is it kind of a drag because you're like, everybody's back drop or it's exciting? >> it's exciting. my grandfather loved talking politics. it's who we are. >> do people get snarky? >> i think we'll enjoy it, involved and being part of it in the midwest. people love the caucus time. >> all right.

can we talk about magic mountains and volcanos now? >> absolutely. >> can you explain the magic mountain first? >> we are going to do texas toast. iowa ground beef, french fries and cheddar sauce. >> you do it differently? >> we steam it in a big vat. we do loose meat sandwiches. >> that is a weird term. >> it is, but it's delicious. we start with the texas toast. i'm about as nervous as i was when secret service watched me do them on tuesday? >> you didn't have it in advance done? >> no. i wanted to ask him what he

wanted to order and he said, i'm here to have magic mountain. >> did you have to prove yourself to secret service? >> they were fun. i was and still am in awe. i said i thought you would check us out. he was cute, had a blonde and southern accent and said, honey, we've been checking you out all weekend. >> you had no idea? >> no. we put french fries on top of the meat? >> i like our hash browns. >> way put wonderful cheddar cheese sauce over the french ch fries. >> i've never been happier than at this moment. come here. >> i already had the bettendorf,

iowa. >> this is complete. >> you have optional snow. >> should we make it into a volcano? >> when we brought the chili, it did not pass tsa. it had its own patdown because it's so spicy. >> were they wearing gloves? >> they wanded it and everything. it was funny. >> is this the chili -- the chili is meat chili? >> yes. we use our local iowa jalapenos. >> i can't wait. did president obama actually eat it? >> he did. one of our servers was able to see him try a bite as i left in his limo. >> then the white house called and said it was delicious, but he couldn't finish the whole thing.